Arabs Delay Their Flights To New Talks Postponement Used To Protest Israel`s Decision To Deport 12

January 5, 1992|The New York Times

WASHINGTON -- Syria, Lebanon and Jordan on Saturday postponed the departure of their negotiating teams for the second round of peace talks with Israel in Washington, joining the Palestinians in protest over Israel`s planned deportation of 12 Palestinians from the occupied territories.

U.S. officials said, however, that they expected the Arab delegations to turn up in Washington, where the talks are scheduled to resume at the State Department on Tuesday.

The officials said that the four delegations apparently felt the need to make some gesture of protest over the Israeli actions, but that none of them appeared to want to scuttle the talks over the issue.

The chief Palestinian spokeswoman, Hanan Ashrawi, said from her home on the West Bank that the Palestinians ``are making our point`` by delaying their departure. But she said it was her ``surmise`` that the Palestinians and others would end up going to Washington, now that the United States has strongly condemned the Israeli deportation orders.

At the first round of negotiations in Washington in December, Israel postponed its delegation`s arrival to protest the venue of the talks, which Israel had wanted to hold in the Middle East.

While the postponements were troubling, U.S. officials were more worried about another issue that could have a far more lasting and explosive effect on the negotiations: Israel`s pending request for $10 billion in housing loan guarantees to resettle Soviet Jews.

The loan request is coming up for reconsideration coincidental with the second round of peace talks in Washington, and how the Bush administration responds to the Israeli request could drive either Israel or the Arabs away from the negotiating table.

When the Israeli loan guarantee request was first raised in September, the Bush administration insisted despite Israeli complaints that it be postponed 120 days so that the issue would not complicate Washington`s efforts to get the first round of the peace talks convened in Madrid, Spain.

The reason the loan issue might have complicated the peace talks is that the administration intends to demand certain restrictions on any new settlements that Israel might build as a precondition for the loan guarantees.

U.S. officials knew that this demand would lead to a dispute with the Israeli government that might have dissuaded Israel from taking part in the peace talks.

Administration officials said recent actions by the Israeli government have not diminished the inclination of President Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker III to insist on restrictions on Israel`s use of any U.S. loan guarantees in building settlements on the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.